My Lucky Day

I am pretty hesitant to give up time with the little chick. I figure it's pretty important, because she's pretty important. I guess I could do more - probably have people come to look after her after she's in bed, but if she wakes up, I want to be the one here to give her a cuddle to get back to sleep.

So when I heard Gotthard was doing a free show in Geneva tonight (there were two nights of concerts planned as part of the Euro Cup celebration), I was disappointed that it lined up with when TLC would be with me. They're kind of like the Swiss equivalent of Aerosmith, or Bon Jovi (before he cut his hair), but not nearly as terrible as that sounds the first time you read it.

In fact, they're quite good.

I've wanted to see them for ages, but either they've been playing too far away at times I didn't want to travel, or the tickets were too much, or... well, something always came up. And for them to be doing a free show in Geneva was almost too good to pass up, but I was traveling last week, and was ready for a little daddy-daughter time.

So last night I had a bbq (or, I guess, it would be more correct to say I went to a bbq - I contributed nothing other than a bottle of wine and some witty repartee) with a few friends, and we planned to head down for the concerts after. To add insult to injury, there were a whole bunch of people walking around with Gotthard tee shirts on. Given my unique grasp of the space-time continuum, it registered that the concert was not on the night that I was free to go, but my brain didn't bother with any of the usual before/after kinds of questions that your brain might. I almost stopped one of them to ask how the show was.

Well, turns out that they didn't know yet, not because it was still a day away, but because it was happening later that night.

It also turns out that it was a lot of fun. They have some good tunes... most I hadn't heard, but a few were familiar, and other than a few drunks and a tall guy beside me who couldn't seem to keep track of his elbows, a thoroughly pleasurable experience.

And I don't know if it was just for this, or if it's for the whole Euro Cup time, but the show ended about 1, and there were still trams running! Bravo, Genève!


The only kind of sour part is that I've once again had it confirmed that concert security people are, mostly idiots. There were people trying to start a mosh pit. Did they do anything? No. There were drunks tearing through a crowd full of women and kids. Did they do anything? No (or, not until it got to the point of an altercation).

But every time somebody pointed a pocket camera at the stage? The security people were jumping up and down... waving their arms, crawling over the barriers to get to the offenders. I don't think they could have been drunk, which is a shame, since that's the only conceivable excuse they had, other than just being stupid.

Oh well. Rock on!

More Mindy

I wasn't planning to take time for this this weekend, but when the muse calls, I listen.

A little more me with Mindy Smith, here.

I Have Something To Say

So why won't they let me say it?

I was at a retreat this weekend with a group from my church, and the speaker started out one of the sessions talking about an idea he had... and how we may have a different perspectives, and he wanted to hear about them.

Only, I don't think he did. Because he started to talk, and then he didn't stop. He didn't even slow down.

You know, I don't have a problem with people just doing their thing. But it pisses me off like you wouldn't believe when they say, "let's have a discussion" or, "I'd like to hear your thoughts on this" and then refuse to actually stop and listen. I mean, if you want to get my input, then I'm happy to give it. But if you don't want it, don't ask for it and then just refuse to listen to it.

Please.

Sound Check

So we had the sound check tonight for the wedding tomorrow. I carted my drums up out of the basement (for those who haven't experienced it, drums + stairs = bad combination), loaded everything into the car, got it over to the church, and unloaded and started setting up.

The sound guy came over and looked at me. "Do you have electronic drums?" he asked.

"Uhhh, yeah..."

He looked at my kit. A rather solid, maple, decidedly acoustic drum set. I decided to elaborate:

"These aren't them."

He looked really, really unimpressed. "I was told you had electronic drums. I don't have mics for these."

"Well," I said, "I do have electronic drums. But nobody asked me to bring them. So I'm playing these. Besides, the room isn't that large, I doubt we're going to need mics on the drums."

He continued to look unimpressed. "How long would it take you to get them?" he asked.

"You mean, on top of the hour and a half it's already taken me to get these? I guess about an hour and a half more if traffic cooperates. More like two and a half after I get these all back and put away."

I could see him calculating: bedtime - sound he wanted / what he had been told was going to happen (this is Switzerland, after all) * how much he actually really cared = "okay, don't bother then"

So I didn't. I'm going to go tomorrow and play my acoustic drums. And I will have a good attitude. And I'll enjoy the wedding. And I'll be nice to the sound guy, cause he was probably just feeling stressed out.

But, for now, I'm going to bed. Happy weekend, all.

The Jura

Here are some pics I got on the weekend. It was beautiful.

You can see the others here.

What A Great Weekend

The little chick and I went to a retreat with about 130 other people from our church this weekend, and it was fantastic. Amazing weather... eating comfortably in a short-sleeved shirt on a terrace in the mountains is pretty good for Switzerland in October. I got some good pictures, I think, but they are of the amazing fall colors, and so I'm pretty sure that none of them are going to really approach what it was that was forcing me to pull into every single lay-by to pull out my camera. Still, I'll get them up soon and you can take them for what they are.

Mostly, though, it was amazing just to know, once again, what a wonderful "family" I have here - so many people with nothing but love for me. It's amazing, and I hope I never forget.

Weekend

This is what a weekend should be.

To start with, I had a great time out at dinner last night - finally tried some Swiss Vietnamese food (initial verdict: not as good as Canadian, no idea on actual, from Vietnam).

This morning, I met up with buddy who's visiting for a cigar, a coffee and to hear some music we're going to work on together.

In the afternoon I went with a few more friends to Lausanne for a complete revelation - an exhibit of the photography of Leonard Freed - and a fascinating (and beautifully open) discussion with a guy visiting from Palestine about the situation and the history there.

Then back to Geneva, to take advantage of some of the most beautiful light I've seen this summer to take some shots of another couple of friends to celebrate their soon-to-be-done pregnancy.

And tomorrow, my little chick comes home. Yay!

[EDIT] I was looking at a Helmut Newton book in the bookshop with Kelly after the museum, and she informed me that the look now is like a lot of his stuff... very strong women, smoky eyes, and red, red lips. Kelly works for an ad agency, so I guess she knows. Smoky eyes... yes, all over it. But please... can we hold back a little on the Robert Palmer lipstick?

Sniff

Man, I have a cold. On Friday, I wasn't sure - thankfully, I was able to get what I needed to done by the end of the week. Today it's certainly here. And I'm scared of what's coming tomorrow.

In lieu of my own inspiration, here's a quote I rather like from Zoolander, which I watched tonight with some good friends:

Mugatu: "I am one hot little potato right now"

I can just see it having so many applications.

Up With People

It's been a great weekend. I had some good time with the little chick, but also had some time to be with old friends, to meet new ones, and to explore a really, really wide variety of relationships. Between having a couple different groups in for dinner, hitting the Swiss rugby finals, giving some coaching on sound engineering for our church sounds crew and then spending some time with a friend tonight, it's been a really social time... and I've loved it. Not much time to take pictures, mixer is still in the shop, but it's been great just to think about the wide variety of people that I have in my life, and the richness it brings.

I'm pretty tired now, and need to call my dad (cause it's Fathers' Day), but I'm left with this kind of residue from the contact I've had with some very wonderful people over the last few days that is very special. It feels like it's kind of sticking to me... the conversations are over, the meals are finished, but the "why" in response to so many things - why I choose to spend my time and energy the way I do, perhaps why I am here (in Geneva) or here (earth), why it matters - is just a little more solid than it was before. And that's a good thing.

Mindy Smith

I was putting a bunch of the MNB tunes on my mp3 player and noticed I had tracks from a Mindy Smith album (One Moment More) on my PC. I can't remember how/from whom I got her CD, but I don't think I had listened to it after ripping it.

Wow.

Her voice reminds me of Alison Krauss (that is, what an angel would likely sound like if I had the chance to hear one sing), but she is a bit more folksy rather than bluegrass-y, and when she rocks, she rocks it right. I'll tell you... listening to her rip it out with some open, country harmonies in behind and the drums kicking Steve-Earle style (think "Copperhead Road") while walking to work in the sunshine this morning pretty much sets up a day that cannot, no matter what follows, go too far wrong. Yeah, baby!

Happy weekend, everyone. Here's hoping you get a chance to breathe, to slow down, and to see or hear something beautiful. And if you're the one who introduced me to Mindy, thanks. I owe you one.

Old Friends

Not really old - they're younger than I am - but you know what I mean. I had the chance to reconnect with some old friends over the last couple of days, and it's been wonderful to relax, talk, eat, and play with the little chick together. It makes me realize that the challenge of dealing with people leaving (a real fact of life in Geneva) is maybe worth it when I consider the great people I know all over the world. Not a bad silver lining.

Oh, and my online photo album is getting closer. I think one more week and it will be caught up and in good shape. If you want to see the progress, you can take a peek here.

Happy Friday

I'm at the airport, again.

The passport guy asked my about the little chick this morning. My coffee was already waiting when I got to the bar at gates B21-28. The first thing I did when I got to the gate was look around for friends.

I think I may fly more than I should.

I'm ready for a Friday... I do enjoy my job, but not enough to make me want to do it on the weekend. So, I foresee some music, some pictures, a new decorative addition to my fridge (custom fridges... wave of the future?), some time with my little chick, some time with friends, and a wonderful, wonderful weekend. Hope yours is, as well.

[EDIT] Yeah, ended up knowing two people on the plane. Definitely too much.

If I'm Going To Be In

...this is not a bad way to do it. Watching a documentary on Mario Testino, who has an absolutely amazing vision. Incredible - I've seen his pictures before, but watching him work is spellbinding. I've also been working (diligently) on finishing off the ice cream in the freezer, visiting Heather's blog (you have read it, right?) and wearing a very fuzzy sweater. Next I'm going to check out Josh's page on the rather strong hunch he's mentioned Barack Obama and I'll have a comment of questionable quality but impeccable timeliness to add. Then I'll play the piano and sing for a while.

So if you've got a Sunday night in on your own, how do you like to spend it?

[EDIT] Okay, no Barack on Josh's page. Hmmmm. And in my quest to not have three new labels for every post, I have attached the label "none of my friends wanted to hang out". In truth, though, I didn't actually extend any invitations for tonight. So if you're reading this and wondering if you're the only one I didn't call to see if you were free, you're not.

[EDIT] Well, it's the 13th, and finally Josh has Obama '08 on his page. What took you so long, man?

Swiffer Me

I was talking to a friend recently and said that I rarely dream... that I have maybe one dream that I can recall every few months. A couple have turned out to be prescient (or, rather, the same one multiple times), but that's a topic for a whole other post.

Anyway, I've had two dreams in the last week. In one last night, someone was looking around my apartment and saying that it was nice enough, but just not really quite clean. And, sadly, I have to agree. It's been too long since I've really gotten the industrial-strength stuff out and made everything shine. So, today I will clean. And I will have a band practice. And I will do the flyer for our church ski retreat. It's going to be a good day, I think.

Oh, and if the sun actually comes out and the light is decent enough, I hope to get a picture of the real yellow couch to include on this page. Yeah, that would be cool.

[EDIT] Oh, and I know... you just finished reading this and now you're thinking, that's not funny. And it's not insightful. And there aren't even any pictures. Why did he bother to post that? Well, here's the thing. I firmly believe that if I don't at least have some mundane details about my everyday life this ceases to be a blog and becomes a column or something.

But, since I don't want you to be too disappointed that you logged on, here's a picture. It's my friend Fabrice who had his quitting party at work yesterday. It's from a day last summer when we were at the Hotel du Lac in Lugano, and the keyboard player you can see over his shoulder was playing the worst elevator music I have ever heard.Yeah, the music was terrible, but he's a lovely guy, and I hope that his future job turns out to be great.